Centrifugal compressor and pump.



R. H. RICE.

GENTRIFUGAL GOMPRESSOR AND PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. H108.

Patented J an. 2, 1912.

Inventor: Richard H. Rice.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

H. ms;

COMPANY, COBPDRATION OF NEW YORK.

OELYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 ELECTRIC cnmmuean comraasson rm. 1

v Specification of Letters Patent. aipumion filed m 22, mos. Serial no. M241.

Patented'Janl 2.1912.

To all whom i t may concern;

Beit, known that I, Rmmnn name; a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachw' In t eaccompanying drawing is shown one of the embodiments of the invention, wherejFigure 1 is a side elevation of-a turbine driven air compressor with certain of the parts of the compressor broken away for the P11123088. of illustration; Fig. 2 is an end view 0 the apparatus with the. turbine or other driving motor removed, and Fig. 3 is a detail .view showing a modified structure for uniting the motor and compressor.

The casing for the centrifugal'compressor is made up of two parts, 1 and 2. These are identical so that one pattern will serve for both. This arrangement avoids the necessity of keeping right and left hand castings in stock, and simplifies the machine work. The casing is provided with an inlet conduit 3 on the under side, which conduit is provided with a flange for bolting it to a supply conduit, tank or other. apparatus.

This conduit communicates with annular chambers 1 and 5 which are. situated on opposite sides of the impeller 6. The chamber 4"is partly formed by the vertical Wall 7 which is a part of the casing, by the wall 8 that is also a part of the casing and com- ..prising anannular portion and a. vertical portion, and the remainder by a detachable conical member 9 which is supported in a shouldered "recess in the part -8. The walls of the chamber 5 are similarly constructed, exce t that the conical member 10 is made of slightly diflerent shape on account of the shaft: bearing situated adjacent thereto. It is to be noted that both members are of the same diameter and 1 fit into counterpart shoulders. Air from the chambers 4 and 5 passes through the bores in the walls 7 into the impeller from which it is discharged outwardly under a certain pressure and velocity Mounted on top of the conduit and bolted thereto is a ring 13 containing a blast gate into the annular 'chamber'fl, the. latter com} munic'atin'g with the discharge conduit 12.

or butterfly valve 14, by means of which the discharge from the apparatus maybe controlled. The compressor shown is more par ticularly intended 'for supplying air to a gas producer,. and by closing t e valve the passage of gas to the compressor can be cut off when the latter is idle. The valve is'also' usefulto close off the discharge in, starting when the compressor is driven by "a motor having small starting torque. The

valve consists of a circular disk having lugs or equivalent "securing means 15 through which the spindle 16.passes. This spindle extends through and is supported by the ring 13. The valve is of such size-that when turned to the osition shown it will engage andmake a tight fit with the wall of the bore of the ring. The spindle is suitably packed at 17 to preventthe escape of fluid around it, and is provided with a lever 18 by means of which the valve can be opened or closed.' It is also provided with a notched segment 19. Situated at one side of the segment and adapted to engage the notches therein is'a spring pressed dog 20. The dog while it normally holds the gate or valve in a predetermined position, will'yield when pressure is applied to theactuating lever 18 and the valve-may be opened or closed as desired.

The means for supporting the compressor will now be described. 'On the right-hand side ofthe wall 8 is turned an annular shoulder 25 having its counterpart in the shoulder 26 on the opposite side. Attached to the wall'8 by equally spaced bolts and engaging the shoulder 25 is a spider 27. It is provided with a hub 28 that is bored centrally to receive the right-handbearing for the impeller shaft 29, and with a casing 30 for the lubricating pump which is driven by the impeller shaft. The spider isfurther provided with a single foot 31 of small area that rests on the foundation 32. This foot is directly under the axis of the impeller. Secured to the left-hand side of the casing is a supporting" member .33 which is provided 'with two feet 34; and 35' suitably spaced gate or I properly setting the same Since the appaapart, and which are 'strengthened and united-by the web36. These feet are lo 'cated at equal distances from the axis of the three points, namely by the feet 31, 34 and 35. By supporting the apparatus in the manner.. des'cr1bed L'am able to dispense with a bed-.plateand thus avoid its original cost and also the labor and expense involved in ratus has three points of support and is self contained, it follows that the foundation therefor, whatever be its character, will require no articular finishing or leveling up. It is evi ent that the apparatus cannot be supported on three sharpened oints, be cause theyv would either cut into t e foundation or else be crushed. As I contem late mountin my apparatus on wooden oors, decks to vessels, etc, it follows that the points of.support must have at least a certain minimum area. The mrm point as used in this s cification means a part whose area is suc that it will support the imposed wei ht without penetrating the surface of the oundation on the one hand, or

be crushed by the weight on the other As wood will in all probability be the softest materialused as a foundation, the area of the point will be designed with this in view. Such a point willbe large enough for allother pur oses. Where the foundation is made of bar er material than wood, the area ticular importance.

.of each point will ,be somewhat in excess ofthe actual requirements, but this is of no par- As before stated, the shoulder 26 on the left-hand side of the casin is turned to the same diameter as the shou der 25. To this 1 shoulder is secured by means of bolts, a semicircularportion 37 of the suplporting memher, said portion being integra with the feet 34 and 35. The said portion 37 is provided with bolt holes that are equally: spaced, as are also the bolt holes in the shoulders 25' and 26 so that the casing of the compressor can be angularly adjusted with respect to the. supporting member and spider, whereby the entrance and exit conduits may occupy any desired angular position about the shaft.

The inner surface of the supportm member is turned or bored concentric with the axis of' the shaft 29, and mounted thereon is a bearing 39 which is held in place by radial bolts. On the left-hand side of the sup- I portingmember is a flange 40 that supports the motor 41, the movable member of which is mounted directly on the impeller shaft 29.

As shown, this motor takes the form of a steam turbine wherein 42 is the conduit admitting steamto the wheel buckets and 43 the exhaust conduit. Any suitable form of means that the rig "comparatively little work to do, and hence member on the other, instead ofportion of the impeller casing, I avoid.

valve mechanism may be employed and located in the steam chest 44; Itwill thus be seen that the motor is over-hung and tends to balance the weight of the impeller. This t-hand' bearing will have may be made small. The supporting'mem- Y ber 33 has three princi al functions; first it supports the weight 0 the motor and com pressor-oasings; second it supports the main shaft bearing and the weight and strains imposed thereon, and third, it acts as a spacer between casings. I

the compressor and motor From Fig. 2 it will be seenthat the upper end of the support is semi cylilidrical where it engages or receives the motor and com ressor' casings, and that the base of the bearmg 39 covers only a comparativelysmall portion thereof. Undersome conditions 'I prefer to distribute the metal forming the supporting member as shown in Fig. 3.

That-is to y, the su ort is divided, a d; entirely .belgw the I instead ofbeing locate I I shaft a portion of it is located above the shaft and the motor and compressor casings are thereby united both above and below the shaft. This is a stronger construction,

and for some cases is more desirable.

It will be observed that the impeller casing 'is supported solely by the sup rting member and the spider .27 with its oot 31,

and is located and forms the. connection be tween them. 'By meansof thisarrangement the structure is greatly simplified, and the cost reduced to a minimum. The apparatus being self-contained, the troubles due to the lack of alinement are reduced to a minimum. As the parts canreadily be bored and drilled in suitable jigs,'accura'cy and interchangeability of parts are assured. By usin a three point sqpport, the apparatus can e placed practica y anywhere it is desired, and a firm support is assured.

I have described my invention in connection with a low pressureair compressor, but it is to be understood that it is equally a plicable to high pressure compressors'as we 1 as to centrifugal pumps. As to the feature of a three point support, the invention is applicable toother structures than the one illustrated wherein there is a driving motor and an apparatus driven thereby,- which structures are self-contained. By sup rting the bearings'fo'r the impeller sha t by the spider on one side and by the supporting y some strains on the casing andcanthus' make the lager lighter than would otherwise be pos- S1 e. 1

In accordance with the provisions of the patent'statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention together with the apparatus which I now consider to best embodiment thereof,but des ne toihaveit understood that the appa: ratus .shown is only illustrative, and that the in'yention "can'be means.

,What I claim asnewand desire to'secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is} 1. In combination, a motor audits casing, an impeller and its casing, a member located "carried out by other between and uniting the casings, a two-point.

support for the-member, and a secondmen berattached to the impeller casingwhieh rests on the foundation at one point only'.-'

'2. 'In an apparatus, of the: character de-i scribed, the combination-of a motor,.. a rctor. driven thereby, a casingyfor the rotor,-.a-

- shaft-common to the motor and rotor, a sup- 7 that rests only.

ortlwhichjis locatedibetween andjn'nites the motor, and casing, and which rests onzthe 1 foundation at two points, a bearing for'the shaft: carried by. the support, .a-seconda'bearingffor the shaft secured to the casing, and

a support for the second bearing'and casing 3.-'In an one side of the casing and provided with a single foot adapted to. reston a'foundation at onepoint only, a supporting member at tached' to the other side ,of-jthevc'asin and havin'gfeet adapted to rest on 'a' foun ation at two'points only, a driving motor which is supported solely by said member,- a shaft common to said element and motor, and a bearing for the shaft car'ried by said member. a 1

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a rotating element,a casing therefor, a spider attached to one .side of the casing and providedwith a single foot adapted to rest on a foundation at one point only,.a"support1ng memberattached to the other side of the casing and having feet adapted to rest on a foundation .at two points only, and a motor for driving the element which is attachbdto the other "side of and'whichjs supported solelyby said member.

5. In an apparatus of the character. de-'.

scribed, the combination ofan'impeller, a

'casing therefor, having an inleta nd an outlet, supports located on oppositesides of the casing and secured thereto, a. singlefoot for one of the supports located in-line w th the axis of the impeller, a pair of feet forpthe other support which are situated on oppo'-- site sides of the said axis and at; equal distances therefrom, and an.,.overhung motorvcomprising a casing and a.rotor, said casing being attached to the; second-support and said rotor being arranged I balance the weight of t'he impeller; i 6. In an apparatus. of.i-the character "described, the combination: of an impeller, a easing therefor, a spider; attached to onegside on the foundation atone point apparatus of the character described, the combination of a rotating ele-' ment, a casing therefor, a spiderattached to .lar to the axis of the impeller,

scribed, the combination, of an impeller, a casing therefor, having-an inlet and an outlet, chambers commumcating with the inlet,

supports located in line with the axis of the supports located oniopposite sides of the cas- .ingand secured thereto and forming walls of said chambers, a single foot for one of the impeller, and a pair of feet for the other support which are situated .on opposite sides of'the said axis and atequaldistances therefrom, and bearings for-the" impeller shaft which are carried :by-the said supports.

7 7. In" an apparatus of the character deofthe casing for supporting it on one side, a motor-for driving theimpeller, a member located between the motor and impeller which supports the casing on the other side and. also the'motor and in'addition serves as a means for uniting the casing and motor and maintaining a fixed relation... 8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an impeller, a Icasing therefor split in a plane'perpendicu- .lar .to the axis of the impeller, the parts of' the easing-being duplicates and each containing an inlet chamber forming a part of the discharge chamber, a shoulder on the outer surface of each part of the casing, the diameter of the shoulders being the same, a sup-.

porting spider attached to one side of the for the impeller shaft carried thereby, a su porting member attached to'the other si e of the casing and seated in itsshoulder, a

bearing for the impeller shaft carried by said member, and inlet and discharge con- ;duits that are situated between the said bearings, said inlet conduit being common to the two inlet chambers. v

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an impeller, a

casing therefor-split in a plane pkerpendicut e parts of the casing being duplicates, shoulders on the outer surface of each part of the casing,

thoseon one part having the same diameters as those on the other, a supporting spider seated in one of the shoulders, a supporting member seated in the corresponding shoulder on the opposite sideof the casing, and

and-is provided with afoot directlty below the shaft, a support that is attached to the oppositeside of the casin "and is provided. with two feet which are 'splaced laterally.

casing andseatedin the shoulder, a bearing occupying the space between the spider and the support.

11. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination-of an Impeller, a

casing therefor having inner and outer walls between which inlet chambers are formed, the inner walls being situated in close proximity to the impeller, a shaft, a spider which flis'attached to one of the-outerwalls and forms a support for one side of the casing,

a support which is attached to the other outer wall and to the motor'for sustaining the weight of'the parts, bearings ,for the shaft carried by the spider and by said support, a condult connected with the inlet chambers, and a conduit receiving the discharge from the impeller.

l2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an impeller, a casing therefor having inner and outer walls between which inletchambers are formed, the inner walls being situated in close proximityto the impeller, a shaft, a spider which is attached to one of the outeriwalls and forms-a su support w 1'ch is attached to the other outer wall and to the motor for sustaining the weight of the parts, bearings for the shaft carried by the spider and 'by said sup ort,

a conduit connected with the inlet cham ers,

aconduit receiving the discharge from the impeller, and members carried bythe outer walls that direct the fluid to the impeller.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of May,1908.

-RICHARD H. RICE.

Witnesses: 4 I JOHN A. MCMANUS, Jr., CHARLES A. BARNARD.

rt for one side of the casing, a 

